Saturday, December 24, 2011

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown for 12/23/11. The last wrestling show until Christmas, so let's find out how it went down.

We open up the show with Big Show. He talks about his nine year climb to get the world title and how it all went up in ashes when Daniel Bryan cashed in MITB. They even showed the clip of the Josh Matthews interview that was on Raw this past week. Show says he was proud of himself for keeping his composure and not going all Medieval on them. Mark Henry interrupts and says Show has nothing to be proud of since he's the shortest reigning world champion in the history of this company. Henry demands to get his rematch for the WHC tonight. Show says he deserves a rematch for the title. Daniel Bryan interrupts. Bryan talks about how he' still shocked to the the world champion and talk about how nobody thought he would make it as a WWE Superstar. Bryan says he might not be the fastest, smartest, charismatic, talker, or most popular person in the wrestling business, he's a damn good wrestler and will prove it on a weekly basis. Teddy Long interrupts and says it will be Show vs Henry tonight, where the winner of the match will get a title match against Bryan. Teddy says congratulations towards the submission wrestler and that ends the segment. A pretty basic opening, but not too bad. Kinda interesting that they booked Henry vs Show tonight, despite the fact Henry is banged up. This will be addressed later on in the show. By the way, I totally called it when I said Bryan would be #1 on Booker T's Fave Five.

Match #1: Cody Rhodes vs Zack Ryder

Cody continues to poke Booker's buttons during the match. Button, button, who's got the button? Anyway, this was a fair match, but nothing overly amazing. The finish comes when Booker gets a mic and sings Cody the red-nosed reindeer for the SD audience. As Cody is distracted, Zack hits the Rough Ryder and gets the victory. The screwy finish doesn't make Cody look weak, while it continues the tension between Booker and Cody. Booker is making a strong case to be Broski of the week for next week's show.

Winner via pinfall: Zack Ryder

Backstage where Teddy is talking to Santino. The comedian wants to be the new assistant to Teddy since Ryder is a little busy these days. Teddy says he will think about it. Aksana arrives and flirts her ass off. Is this Teddy/Aksana deal leading to something? They've been doing this for a while and I would like to see….I don't know…..some progress? Once she leaves, Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler arrive. I have to admit, the innuendo joke by Santino was pretty hilarious. Dolph complains about wanting a rematch for the US championship. At some point. Dolph talks about how he's superior to the current WHC. Teddy thinks about it and makes it Dolph vs Bryan tonight. Well, that sounds pretty cool.

It appears we are ready for the Show/Henry match until David Otunga arrives. Otunga really needs some new entrance music. Imagine a lawyer coming out to Justin Bieber music? Yeah, it doesn't work. Otunga says Henry hasn't been medically cleared to complete, so this match won't happen tonight. Show greets him with a KO punch. This was kinda weird. Henry isn't able to compete tonight, so don't really know why you tease this potential match when it didn't seem very likely from the start. To be fair, casual fans aren't really aware of Henry's injury….until now. Still, this scene seemed like a cheap way to drain out the clock. There's also wrestling logic in this scene. Normally, the GM would know about the health issues of his performers, so how did Otunga know but Teddy knew nothing? Being around Jennifer Hudson allows Otunga to get some connections. By the way, I SPLIT MY COFFEE!!!

Backstage where Teddy is talking to the Miz. Miz talks about how he was told to show up on SD, but Teddy didn't get the memo. So, Teddy didn't know about Henry's medical condition or Miz's appearance? Teddy really can't get Aksana out of his head, can't he? Miz goes on a rant in cutting down the SD talent and how he's superior to anyone on this show. Miz says he will take on anyone from the SD roster. Teddy says he will go find someone.

Match #2: Miz vs Sheamus

Well, Teddy apparently found someone to accept the match. What? No Sheamus/Jinder Mahal match tonight? When I heard about this match, I thought it would be interesting. The match was really short and it ended when Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick and got the clean win. While Miz didn't look completely weak since he almost won this match, it does make him look bad if he was set to go up against CM Punk for the championship. Then again, maybe Miz isn't going after the title? I like Sheamus getting the win, but didn't like how it made Miz look bad since he's supposed to be one the major heels in the company. As for Sheamus, nice to see him do something besides beat up jobbers. Still, Sheamus needs a program.

Winner via pinfall: Sheamus

We are in the ring where Wade Barrett wants to talk. He talks about how victorious he is over Randy Orton and claims he wants a world title match. Just as Wade is about to leave, Randy shows up and the two start to fight. Orton is winning the brawl and is about to hit RKO, but Wade runs away. As Wade heads to the back, Orton goes after him. The two fight to the back and near the parking lot. Orton hoses him down? Yeah, he took a water hose and sprayed Wade with water. Seems kinda strange, but R-Truth has proved that water bottles are the ultimate weapon in pro wrestling. Orton even tosses garbage on him. I was almost waiting for Wade to say "OH GOD, it smells like TNA". The scene ends when Orton hits RKO on Wade while on top of a car. This scene gives new meaning to the term, vehicular manslaughter. As expected after Raw, Orton and Wade will continue their little rivalry. I still see this being over by the time Royal Rumble comes around. Either way, it appears Wade won't be having a good Christmas.

Match #3: Primo vs Kofi Kingston

Well, nice to see more build up with the tag team division. Maybe WWE is going to take it seriously? What's strange is Primo and Epico haven't teamed together very long, but I kinda like them. Not a lot of personality there, but something about them seems to work. Then again, they are cousins. Still, I would like to see the Usos used on this show more. This was a short and somewhat forgettable match. The finish comes when Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise for the clean victory. They are definitely trying something with these two teams. Oh, and I guess Hunico is STILL in the Witness Wrestling Protection Program. What happened to him? Maybe Orton killed him with the RKO at Survivor Series?

Winner via pinfall: Kofi Kingston

Match #4: Daniel Bryan vs Dolph Ziggler

This wasn't a bad match, but I know I've seen better Danielson/Ziggler matches. Still, both guys had a chance to show what they can do in the ring. Jack Swagger would get involved early in this match. This would bring out the Big Show to watch the rest of this match. The finish comes when Swagger takes a cheap shot at Show on the outside of the ring…

That's right. Show gets angry and ends up attacking Swagger in the middle of the ring. The match ended up stopping as Teddy would come out and make it a tag team match.

No Contest

Match #5: Daniel Bryan and Big Show vs Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

As this match is progressing, Show is trying to show Daniel what he's capable of. Bryan would seem to answer back. At the same time, Show is actually cheering for Bryan during the match. Yeah, the big guy is pretty conflicted at the moment. The finish comes when Bryan locks the Le Bell lock on Swagger for the submission victory. I like the move of making it a tag team match. What it mainly does is that it protects Dolph. It seems the WWE wants to really try something with Dolph. Even though losing to the WHC wouldn't be that bad, it wouldn't help him either. By changing the match, it keeps Dolph's stock high while Swagger's stock continues to fall. Then again, what else is new? It also gives the WHC another victory, but there isn't much to brag about in beating Swagger. It also shows Big Show being a little lost since he isn't sure how to act. It really seems like Show is being built towards a heel turn.

Winner via submission: Daniel Bryan and Big Show

Overall Impression:

There wasn't a lot to be impressed about with SD this evening. Then again, this show is two days before Christmas, so I didn't expect a whole lot. I expected lots of filler with minor build up with the current storylines. Well, that's pretty much what happened tonight. I really didn't want to review this episode since there was a lot of filler, but I felt bad that I missed the last couple of SD reviews and wanted to do this week's show. The wrestling matches were okay, but nothing alarming to witness. There was some build up with the storylines, like Big Show and Orton/Wade, but it was stuff you already knew going into the evening. Still, as far as a wrestling show near Christmas is concerned, this was okay. Trust me, I've seen worse. Time to rank all the shows for this week. In terms of wrestling quality, I rank it Raw, SD, and Impact. Raw had a couple of good matches. SD had average matches while Impact…..was just impact. In terms of promos/segments, I rank it Raw, SD, and Impact. Pretty much the highlight of the week was TLC, but that was expected. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. I know this review is pretty short, but I wanted to keep it short for the holidays. The nomination list for the 2nd Annual WrestlingNerd award show has been release. Be sure to vote and let your opinion be heard. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night.